This site has been built for teachers, students, and parents. The side and top menus will take you to specific units of study with lesson plans and handouts.

TEACHERS – You are welcome to use anything on this site. Feel free to email me with any questions. If you have a cool lesson that you developed and would like to share on this site, again, please email me with the lesson and attribution.

STUDENTS and PARENTS – On the main page, I will create daily posts – usually a week ahead. This will tell you what we are doing in class each day (for parents and absent students) and will have any notes, handouts, etc. that I will give out that day. If you are out or you just lose your handout, please get it here. Just look for the date.

What role does religion play in this novella? How do the various characters use religious language and approach religious themes?

Focus mainly on how Crane expects his readers to respond to the characters and their lives. For example, did Maggie have real choices or was she forced into prostitution? Did any of the characters have choices? Is this book Realism or Naturalism? Where do we see the same debate in Modern society?

What part do social forces affect the outcome of the characters’ lives?

Discuss Twain’s attitude toward religion in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn using specific examples from the book.

Discuss the development of Jim’s character during the course of the novel. How do the reader’s perceptions of him change as Huck’s perceptions change?

Ernest Hemingway said, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huck Finn.” Explain what Hemingway meant by this statement including a discussion of the novel, its characters, settings, conflicts, etc. as a turning point in American literature. What sets it apart from earlier authors and their works?

Three types of irony found in literature are verbal, situational and dramatic. Discuss examples of irony found throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. What is Twain’s purpose in using irony in the story?

Discuss the role the following ideas play in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: 1) the Mississippi River as a symbol and plot device and (2) superstition as an element of foreshadowing.

What
is Moral Sense? How does Satan turn
upside down the boys’ arguments on the need for morality? How does Twain make
you think or rethink morality? Is evil a construct of limited understanding or
an unfair burden on morality?

How
does The Mysterious Stranger explore
Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest?
Is there a sense of survival or evolution in the novel or is there a
sense of stagnancy.

How
does Twain explore the concepts of Naturalism and/or Realism in this novella?
How would you classify the story as one or the other?

How
does Twain use parody and comedy in juxtaposition with darker images to create
mood or illustrate a theme ?

Douglass describes knowledge as “valuable bread” (p. 83) and the Liberator, an anti-slavery paper, as his “meat and drink” (p. 151). How does literacy sustain him?

Why does Douglass believe “Slavery proved as injurious to [his master’s wife] as it did to [him]” (p. 81)?

Think about Douglass’s private speech to the ships in Chapter X. Why does Douglass recreate this speech in his Narrative? What do the ships represent? Why is this moment important within the Narrative?

Discuss the prejudice that existed among slaves from different plantations. Examine the irony of this prejudice.

Why does Frederick include the anecdotes about the two religious slave holders Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Weeden? What point is he attempting to make?